Draft-Biden Group Pushes Petition Urging Him to Run for President

Draft Biden 2016 has released an ad featuring supporters sharing their reasons why the vice president should run for the nation's highest office.

"Some people ask, 'Why Joe Biden?' I turn back and ask them, 'Why not Joe Biden? He’s been one of the most influential vice presidents that this country has seen,'" a man says in the opening of the 62-second ad.

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"He’s right now a part of one of the most successful administrations in recent history, and he’s a big reason for that success," another man says.

Other backers cite Biden's early support for same-sex marriage and for stopping violence on college campuses as reasons for their support.

"He's supported the younger generation's beliefs," said one young man, followed by a woman who says, "There's nobody more qualified to be president than Joe Biden at this point in time."

"In 2016 I’m ridin' with Biden," each of the supporters ends the ad.

The video was released online Friday, one day before Draft Biden 2016's National Day of Action to get more signatures on a petition to urge the vice president to get in the race. The petition currently has more than 150,000 signatures.

Biden has given no indication he will enter the race, but also has said he hasn't ruled out running when asked earlier this year. Bloomberg News reported that his son Beau Biden, just before his death in May, urged his father to run.

Biden is currently polling third at 13 percent in the Democratic field behind former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at 51 percent and Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders at 17 percent in a recent Monmouth University poll. Clinton and Sanders are both declared candidates.

But Draft Biden 2016 notes that the poll shows that 12 percent more said they would vote for Biden if he enters the race, and 43 percent said they would at least consider Biden should he toss his hat into the ring. And 68 percent of that support would come from current Clinton backers.

"Most people seem to be focusing on a Sanders surge among the liberal wing of the party," Monmouth polling director Patrick Murray said. "But the bigger threat to Clinton may come from a Biden candidacy, where the two would be fighting for the same voters."

Draft Biden isn't putting money behind the ad, The Hill reports, but is sending it to supporters so it can gain grassroots backing.